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House prices plunge 9.6% in June and are back at end-2002 levels

Price index of existing own homes

Source: CBS, Kadaster

House prices were down almost 10% in June, compared with June 2012, according to new figures from the national statistics office and land registry. The 9.6% price drop has taken house prices back to their end-2002 level, the CBS says. In May, house prices were down 8.2% on the year. House prices have now fallen by more than one-fifth since August 2008, when they reached a peak. Detached homes were hardest hit in June followed by semi-detached houses. By contrast, apartments and terraced housing fell 7.5% in price.

Pessimistic

The CBS figures are slightly more pessimistic than those published by the real estate agents’ association NVM. This is because the CBS records sales at the moment they are confirmed in the land registry documents, which is a couple of months on from signing the sales contract. The land registry office said last week that 7,224 homes had been sold in June, a drop of 55% on the year earlier period. Despite the price drop, the main mortgage lenders said recently there are signs the market may be bottoming out.